In the UK some landowning organisations are insisting on non lead bullets for deer control.

I use a .308 with 150 grn bullets (reloaded) and get excellent accuracy right out to 400 yards.

I have been reading about reloading with non lead, a lot of comments state that due to the extra length of non lead bullets you should go lighter, but then there seems to be issues with barrel twist rates as well. Has anyone reloaded a .308 with non lead yet, if so what are your comments please.

Sure, with Barnes bullets. Get a copy of their manual and follow the directions. I have had no problems so far with 30 cal 165 TSX. It is only with their 200 grain that they say use a one in ten twist. Their load data is on their web site. Do not fear them other than the price.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
Do not fear them other than the price.

+1. Never used Barnes-X in my .308, but in other calibres (notably .375 H&H), they work a charm. Find a bullet weight your rifle likes, work up a load and go hunting

I've always been a Nosler Partition kinda guy, our family has killed over 30 moose and hundreds of caribou with partitions; along with bear & a few wolves here and there.

A few years back, a buddy wised me up to Barnes X bullets and I've been defaulting to them TTSX & TSX bullets in all most my lighter semi autos and even in my long range 30-378 Mark V. Those TTSXs are pretty good shooters in my guns. I picked up literally thousands of SPS (nosler) overruns cheap but still pay the high Barnes prices because I feel quite lucky with those TTSXs; too superstitious I guess. I still use 210 Nosler Partitions in my ar-10 338 fed and 225s in my Bar Safari 338 win mag and have killed bear and moose with both. When my kids started killing caribou, they picked the 6.8 spc, 110 ttsx, 28 grains H-322 in SSA brass which is as good as Lapua Brass. So the 6.8s with Barnes TTSXs have killed a bunch of blk bear and truck loads of caribou over the last 7-8 years. Only thing we ever lost with those 6.8s was a wolf that left bone chips and blood on the dirt road and kept going; those ttsxs work.

I picked up a Scar 308 last fall and have working up loads and shooting off the my bench this summer. I plan on doing some killin with that girl starting nx month when our caribou show. The Scar only has 16 inch barrel, so my velocity is limited but I don't have any qualms about it putting down moose, blk bear, or caribou, and it probably kill one of our local grizz just as quick.

I have been shooting 165-168 TTSX mainly, but have played around with TSXs, Accubonds, A-FRames, Nosler Partition Spitzers, GMX, Game Kings, Grand Slams, and Bergers. I loaded up 3-4 hundred with TAC, BLC-2, 8208 XBR; personally liked the TAC best. I want to load up some RL-15, IMR 4064, and some Varget, but the shelves are still bare here in Alaska; they get it in but it disappears soon as they put it on the shelf. With the TAC, I loaded up between 42-44 grains but only got up to 2500 with 16 inch barrel. I was using an Acog red dot ghost ring so my groups weren't perfect, between 1-2 inches but I now have that new Gissielle super scar 2 stage trigger and stuck a good Leupold on the gun; so I do believe the gun will be sub MOA when it stops raining.

Boy, I'd try them TTSXs for starters. Stay away from the GMXs. I like the A FRames, Partitions, and Game Kings nx in line; but they got that evil lead. We don't target shoot all that much, but shoot a bunch of bullets outta 5-6 guns from August on until March. As expensive as them Barnes TTSXs are; I keep mailing them in to reload.

Sorry to go on, good luck.

Been using Barnes in -06, 308, 300RUM and everything else for some time now.
I've found no problem with 150gr, 165gr or 180gr in any of the above calibers on anything from impala and blacktails to zebra and elk.
They have been consistently accurate and performed flawlessly with 100% weight retention.

Barnes has load data on their site, it includes twist info.

http://www.barnesbullets.com/information/load-data/

http://www.barnesbullets.com/w...007/02/308WinWeb.pdf

Good deal on the Barnes Load Data site. I have book #4 and the site had other info also. Loading up a couple boxes of .308 168 TSX while we have a couple days of rain. Thanks for the site.

Thanks guys, how do you find accuracy compared to equivalent lead.
My Sauer S202 has a 18" barrel with a Zeiss 4-16X50 & ASV turret, it is really accurate and dependable when dialing in right out to 400 yards.

I also read that non-lead ricochets a lot

Early Barnes bullets were not accurate for me. Ones made now seem to be ok. True, solid copper bullets will ricochet since they never deform or fragment like lead/copper will. So be careful when shooting at rocks.

I reload 130 TSX and TTSX for my brother and cousin in both 308 and 30-06. Good accuracy out of the 308 and acceptable out of the 30-06. In the 308 win I am using 50.7gr R15 to get good accuracy.